The Iceberg Metaphor
by Darkfangz13
Summary: Post-Inception. Ariadine runs into Eames outside the airport, realizes he loves Arthur, and convinces him to confess. But just what is Eames going to confess to Arthur, if not his undying love?


A/N An iceberg is used in psychology as a useful metaphor to understand the unconscious mind.

* * *

><p>It's no big surprise to Cobb, after the Fischer case, that Eames is the first to go. In fact, he's watching the forger staunter confidently out of the airport at this very moment. Cobb turns to leave the rest of his team a final glance before making his own way home, finally.<p>

It's also no surprise that Arthur would be the last to leave. Arthur waits a full ten minutes after he's sure the whole team passes safely through immigrations to finally pick up his suitcase and leave. Because, that's just how their faithful pointman is.

Cobb has never been worried about his team after a case before. More like, he's never had time to. He knows what it's like, to come back after a tough extraction. He knows of long nights drinking the last dredges of his sanity away, of waking up from nightmares. And he's worried.

But now, now he has home to come back to. Family who understands his needs, and more importantly, the concern he doesn't need. Cobb is just about missing Arthur's sharp steps that would normally resound at his left, a few paces behind him. But Arthur has enough decency to let Cobb reunite with his family and regain touch with a normal life.

Cobb doesn't need to worry about Ariadine, she's going back to school with a great teacher. A mentor that Cobb trusts.

Yusuf will probably waste no time putting up shop in the Black Market. He'd have clients snapping his new sedative up in no time.

Eames? Cobb frowned a little. He'd never thought about it before, what Eames would do after a case.

Arthur would wander around nearby, take on a few minor jobs, stay close enough to come at a moment's notice, but far enough to give the Cobb family privacy. But he'd always come around sooner or later, the Cobb family has always had a soft spot for Arthur.

Cobb shakes his head and walks resolutely out of the airport. He has more important things to concentrate on. Like James and Philippa. Home.

* * *

><p>Ariadine waves good-bye to Yusuf as she sees the chemist leaving the airport. Then she looks around for Arthur, who is the only one of her team left in the airport. "See you soon, then?" Arthur smiles, walking over to her when it had come apparent that she was looking for him. "Take care."<p>

Aridaine nodded with a coy smile. "You too, Arthur. I'll be seeing you."

Arthur nodded in satisfaction before he turned on his heel and lost his way in the crowd. Arthur had another flight to catch an hour after they landed. It was his way of washing his hands of a target, of an extraction. Who knows? Maybe he already had another job lined up in his new destination.

Ariadine shook her head sadly. It wasn't hard imagining that Arthur was a lonely man. Then she turned to leave the airport herself.

She ran into Eames on the way out, just beyond the automatic sliding doors. She blinked in bewilderment. She had thought Eames left long before any of them! He should've been long gone, by now. "Eames?" she called out, approaching the forger. "What are you still doing here?"

Eames just gives her a one-sided shrug and a lopsided smile. "Waiting... I guess." Is his unusually unsure reply.

Ariadine's interest is piqued. "Waiting...?" she echoed, trying to coax the man into a full confession.

Eames sighed and shot a glance in the direction of the large, glass doors Ariadine had just walked out of. "Did the rest of the team leave, already?" He really did make an effort to distract the architect.

But Ariadine would have none of it. "That's not an answer, Eames." she pressed him. "And no, Arthur's still there, he's catching another flight, I hear."

Eames let out a chuckle. "Leave Arthur to catch another plane after a flight like ours. I could never do that, my arse is sore!" Ariadine found Eames's laugh contagious and joined in the quiet chuckles.

"So what's got you waiting up?" she asked, still unwilling to be deterred by Eames's constant sidetracks.

Eames grimaced at her relentlessness, then he sighed in defeat. "A dream, Ariadine, if you will forgive the metaphor." Eames seemed lost in his thoughts a moment, then he began walking away, dragging his bags behind him. "Where're you off to now?" he called back over his shoulder. "I, for one, am off to a hotel. You coming with?" And Ariadine followed.

Ariadine fell into step with the forger before finally popping the question. "So... Arthur?" Eames stumbled, caught himself, and looked at her blankly. "Don't even try to lie to me after a reaction like that!" Ariadine scolded at Eames's carefully innocent expression.

Eames's shoulders sagged. "It's not... it's not what Yusuf makes it out to be." Eames clarified. "Arthur and I, we're not like... _that_." Ariadine decided against pointing out that she had no idea as to what Yusuf had claimed they were. "It's just... _Arthur_. You know?" Eames waved his arms for extra emphasis.

"Erm... no, not getting it." Ariadine admitted, Eames sighed in exasperation.

"Arthur, he's like, the one person who's always around, and the last person you get to know. You know? He's... sort of... more like a stranger than you are. See?"

"Right, so, what about that bothers you?" Ariadine asked, hoping to get straight to the point.

"It just that, he's like an iceberg." Eames explained. "You only find out precious little about him before he then drifts off." Now Ariadine was beginning to understand Eames's still unverbalized problem.

"You like him, don't you?" she stated. "You like Arthur." Eames only responded with a stressed sigh and Ariadine had a feeling that Eames had already come to that conclusion some time or another. And now Eames's pet names and subtle intrusions on Arthur's personal space when the man was taking notes made sense. "You should tell him." she told Eames. "I really think you should." Eames was carefully unresponsive.

The two found a cab and Eames helped the driver place his and Ariadine's baggage into the back of the vehicle as Ariadine scooted into the back seat. Then, after a moment of serious thought, Eames walked around and closed the back seat door behind Ariadine. He leaned to peer through the open window. "Sorry, Love, mind holding onto this cab for a minute or two?"

Ariadine smiled in subdued encouragement. "Go on, Eames, you've got a full forty-some minutes to track him down. I can take care of myself here." Eames nodded at her gratefully and dashed back into the airport.

* * *

><p>Arthur frowned as he stared at his laptop. This particular case had an easy target and the extraction would be just as easily performed. He had worked with Cobb for a long time, it wasn't any surprise that he'd remember the layouts of a dream Cobb planned out. A simple layout would do for a case like this, like that one Cobb planned out in Germany. That extraction would've been accomplished without a hitch if it wern't for Mal's constant interruptions.<p>

Arthur flicked his wrist to glance at the face of his watch. Fifteen minutes to his next flight and nothing to do. He put away his laptop and stretched. He really wasn't looking forward to another flight.

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><p><em>Shit!<em> Eames thought through his growing panic. How was he supposed to find one pointman in the entire airport if he didn't even know where Arthur's next destination was? _Should've at least tried to ask him about it._ He grumbled inwardly, bending over, hands on his knees as he breathed in large gulps of oxygen. But, now that he thought about it, there was so much Eames wanted to know about Arthur but never got around to asking.

The Arthur he knew, the pointman, merely the tip of the iceberg. Eames didn't even know Arthur's preference in country. Fate seemed to be mocking him.

Why was he running around the airport madly in search for Arthur anyway? Eames didn't know when it started that he began to wait for Arthur after a team separated after a job. Sometimes, when they didn't need to flee from government officials, they'd go to the nearby bar for a few drinks. Sometimes they'd go out for a cup of coffee. Arthur liked his black, in preparation for a long night, and with two sugars for early morning jobs. Small, subtle details like that, Eames knew.

So where would Arthur go? UK? No, that was Eames's territory. Arthur tended to avoid it like the plague. Arthur would usually never be too far from Cobb, but that was before Cobb was allowed back in the States. Maybe Japan? Arthur always had such refined tastes. Although, he'd have some caution, knowing Saito to be in the premises. Eames groaned and tugged at his hair in frustration. Arthur was such a hard man to figure out!

"Eames?" Eames's head shot up at the familiar voice. "What are you still doing here?" That patiently sardonic voice had never sounded more beautiful.

"Tell you the truth, darling." _Darling, always 'darling' never 'love', that pet name was for woman friends. Arthur is, and always will be 'Darling.'_ "I was looking for you." Arthur looked at him like he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be flattered that Eames would run aimlessly around to find him in a sea of thousands of faces, or concerned for the forger's mental health if Eames thought he was sure he'd find him. The chances that he'd find him would bring up a large, annoying equation for them to solve so Arthur just decided to let Eames explain himself.

"And, I was wondering if you wanted a drink." Arthur's right eyebrow slowly crept up his forehead. "Or, maybe several. After a job like that, I think that's in order."

A hint of a smile twitched at the corner of Arthur's mouth. "Well..." Arthur still seemed to be battling with his concern for Eames's mental health. "...I've got a flight to catch in eight minutes..." Heavily hinting to a 'no'.

Eames interrupted him before he could decline properly. "Miss it, darling?" he asked hopefully. Now the other eyebrow on Arthur's forehead was joining it's symmetrical companion to his hairline.

"Miss a flight? For a drink?" Arthur, as always, so serious, married to his work. _Please don't think about the suggestion logically._ Eames begged inwardly,

"Come on! You can book another flight tomorrow! I'll even pay for your ticket!" Eames cajoled light-heartedly. Now Arthur's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"What do you really want, Eames? I know you're not usually prone to go running around the airport looking for me, and you're not going to offer to pay for my plane ticket just for a drink." He crossed his arms and tilted his head, waiting for Eames to explain his strange actions.

Eames panicked. Only a few more minutes to Arthur's flight! "A totem." he blurted before he could stop himself.

A bemused look overcame Arthur's suspicious expression. "Excuse me?"

"A fixed point, Arthur." Eames tried to explain. "After a job, we always go out for a drink, a coffee... sometimes the nearest ER." Eames lit up at Arthur's reminiscent chuckle. "It's become quite the symbol of a job well done. We never go out after a botched extraction, and we never go out together at any other time. Quite frankly, it's a rare occurrence and I've missed it."

Arthur looked from Eames, to the growing line-up at his gate, and back. He silently debated the pros and cons of both his options. Then he let out a sigh. "But you _will_ pay for my ticket expenses?" he relented, Eames nodded seriously.

"Scouts honour." A corner of Arthur's mouth quirked up just enough to create a dimple that captured Eames's fascination.

"Does that mean I shouldn't trust your word?" Eames opened his mouth, shut it, moved to speak again, and forgot his words a second time. "What is it, Eames?" Arthur asked. "You look like a goldfish."

"Granted, a handsome one, though." Eames shot back with a grin, finally recovering use of his tongue.

Arthur just rolled his eyes. "Didn't know you were good at animal impersonations, too." he quipped sarcastically.

"Oh, darling, I'm a real tiger." Eames smiled flirtatiously as he reached over and took Arthur's suitcase.

"Right." Arthur brushed the comment aside as Eames led him off in the direction Ariadine was waiting with the cab. "But..." He fell into step beside Eames. "...something tells me you didn't stop me just for a drink." He shot Eames an unsure look with a hint of mystery, like Arthur knew a secret Eames never told him.

"Um..." Eames mentally prepared himself. If he was going to confess, it might as well be now. "...Arthur..." He stopped Arthur with a hand on the pointman's elbow.

Arthur stopped, furrowing his brow at the sudden halt. "What is it, Eames?" he asked curiously.

"Arthur..." Eames began again. "...Ariadine _knows_ something." Eames confessed. "Teamed up with Yusuf and..." Arthur laughed, stopping Eames's growing panic.

"Eames... I think it's safe to say that your infatuation with me is common knowledge." he stated simply. "Even Cobb knows." Eames blinked in confusion.

"So they know about, um..." Eames trailed off lamely.

"Not 'um'," Arthur chuckled. "I believe it's called a relationship." Then Arthur began walking away again. "But, no. Yusuf and Ariadine only suspected your unrequited love for me. Cobb, on the other hand, knows. I told him."

"Then, what should we tell Ariadine and Yusuf?" Eames asked, following Arthur dumbly like a puppy.

"Oh, I took care of that. Ariadine called my cell between the time you left her and the time you met up with me. She told me of her suspicions and I confessed to the whole affair. She's probably e-mailing Yusuf now, with the news." Eames paled.

Arthur noticed his boyfriend's discomfort and patted his arm. "Don't worry, there's nothing wrong about them knowing, Eames."

Eames caught up to Arthur and wrapped an arm around his waist. "But of course there is! Now they're going to get suspicious every time I offer to do team exercises with you! It was fun knowing that they didn't know." He pouted. Arthur rolled his eyes. "Staying late at the office. They sure as Hell won't let us do _that_ anymore!"

"And they'd have good reason for that." Arthur snorted. "But look on the bright side. It'll minus the cost of a hotel room, won't it?"

Eames smiled at Arthur. "You'd be willing to share territory?" he teased.

"I'm an only child, but I'll manage." Arthur smiled back, planting a chaste kiss on Eames's cheek. "Now, how about that drink?"

"But what about Ariadine?" Eames asked, suddenly remembering the architect. Arthur just raised an eyebrow at him.

"I told you, I confessed to our affair, do you really think she'd stay and wait for you? She's taken the liberty to book us at the hotel." Then Arthur grabbed hold of Eames's tie, tugging him toward the exit. "Iceberg cocktail, Eames, your treat."

Eames smirked back at him and stole a perfectly scandalous kiss from his boyfriend. "Oh, you're going to regret confessing, darling, promise!"

Arthur laughed and pushed him back. "You'll be bad for business, Eames!"

"Darling, I'm not complaining."

The End


End file.
